Lee Myung-bak sworn in as S. Korean president

Xinhua Seoul, Feb 25 (Xinhua) South Korea’s conservative leader Lee Myung-bak was sworn in as the country’s 17th president Monday. Lee, who won the presidential elections Dec 19, unveiled his vision to revive the country’s economy on the basis of the market economy and to introduce pragmatic ideals into foreign policy in his inaugural address.

In his inauguration address, Lee said South Korea and North Korea would open a new horizon in bilateral cooperation if Pyongyang abandons its nuclear weapons programme and adopts a policy of openness.

He stressed that South Korea will develop a strategic alliance with the United States and seek peace and mutual prosperity with South Korea’s close neighbours, including Japan, China and Russia.

South Korea will be a nation where the government serves its people with devotion, a nation where the economy is robust and the weak and marginalized are taken care of and a nation where labour and management collaborate in harmony, he said.

A total of 45,000 South Koreans attended the inauguration ceremony held in front of the National Assembly in Yeouido, central Seoul. Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, Chinese President Hu Jintao’s special envoy Tang Jiaxuan, Russian Prime Minister Victor Zubkov, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Mongolian President Nambaryn Enkhbayar were among the guests at the ceremony. Xinhua